Utreia Comes Clean About Union Station Fountain Folly

Ultreia has one of the best patios in town. Sitting at a table just outside Union Station, you can munch on selections from the pinche pintxos happy hour inspired by the tapas of San Sebastian, or dig into a plate of paella (Wednesday evenings and one Saturday a month) while enjoying some of the choicest people-watching in Denver. From here, downtown looks plenty vibrant. Especially if you've consumed a few of Ultreia's liquid assets, its seasonal gin tonics.

But Ultreia has another liquid asset, the outdoor fountain. BOSS, the space's designer, found a stunning fountain in the Netherlands that Crafted Concepts founders Jen Jasinski and Beth Gruitch were all for buying...until they found out it would cost $15,000 just to get it to the United States. Instead, they went with a version from Giannini Garden Ornaments when they opened their second Union Station restaurant in December 2017, then replaced that fountain when the original conked out.

And that was that until about 10:30 a.m. on Monday, August 11, when the opening bartender looked out on the patio and spotted two men emptying a bottle of Dawn into the fountain. Whether they planned to do some laundry or take a bubble bath is unknown; they complied with a request to leave before they could come clean about their intentions.

After the fountain got a good scrubbing, it was back in business.

Gruitch and Jasinski closed their first restaurant in Union Station, Stoic & Genuine, last summer; they also stepped back from some of their other restaurants in order to focus on Rioja and assorted projects. Tim Kuklinski became the operating partner at Bistro Vendome, the longtime French restaurant that had moved from Larimer Square to Park Hill in late 2023. Meanwhile, veteran executive chef Adam Branz, who'd helped launch Ultreia in 2017, returned as sole operating partner of the Union Station eatery, whose menu had always been influenced by the cuisine of Spain and Portugal.

This spring, he introduced that new seven-day-a-week happy hour menu, as well as...Negroni fountains!

But don't blame the bubbles on those; the fountain equipment that the bar was using was designed for chocolate, and wasn't up to Negronis (you can still get one in a glass for $5).

For those looking for more interactive, authorized waterplay at Union Station, check the Crystal Fountains on the plaza, which are a major attraction in hot weather.